


Take a chance

by queenofmne



Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Fluff, stepdad! Geralt, student! Ciri, teacher! Yennefer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:01:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24080977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenofmne/pseuds/queenofmne
Summary: Prompt by @burningblake from Tumblr: Geralt is a single father. Yennefer is Ciri's teacher. Ciri has obvious difficulties at school and Yennefer decides to handle the matter personally.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg
Comments: 10
Kudos: 47





	Take a chance

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! A little fluff piece which I got as a prompt on Tumblr! Hope you guys like it! xx
> 
> P.S. Thanks to @burningblake for the idea! ❤️

This unknown number was calling Geralt for the third time today. First time, he thought it was a mistake. Second time, he was sure it was the damn telemarketers. Now, however, Geralt didn’t know who it might be.

Although picking up the phone and talking to people was a pain in his ass, Geralt was now a little curious about the persistent stranger. “Who is it?”

Screw manners, he was in a bad mood today anyway.

“Hello. Is this Mr. Rivia, Cirilla’s father?”, the woman asked, sounding both annoyed and worried.

“Yes, I’m her father. Who is this? What do you want? Did something happen?” At the mention of his daughter Geralt couldn’t hide the slight fear in his voice, urging him to ask so many questions.

“Don’t worry Mr. Rivia, your daughter is okay. This is her teacher, Yennefer Vengerberg. I’m actually calling about her school work.”

At her words Geralt eased up a little bit - the most important thing in the world was that Ciri was alright. However, he still didn’t understand why the teacher had been calling him all day.

“Ms. Vengerberg, would you please get to the point?” She could sense that his bad mood had come back. This man obviously wasn’t really into talking over the phone… or he just wasn’t into talking to her… Whatever his problem might have been, she had a job to do.

“Your daughter has been failing some classes this semester and I think it would be best for you to come down to the school so we could figure out some possible solutions. Ciri’s a smart kid, I believe she could do much better if she only made an effort.”

Yennefer was trying to be as straightforward as she could. This little girl was one of her favorite students - she saw a little bit of herself in Ciri. So, of course she wanted to help her make the best of her potential. Geralt, on the other hand, didn’t see Yennefer’s intentions that way…

“So you’re saying I got a smart kid, but I’m not a good enough parent to make her do homework?” His voice was even colder than before and Yennefer could not believe this man had gotten to that conclusion after everything she’s told him. Self-centered asshole.

“No, that is not what I was trying to say”, she reassured him sternly. “Mr. Rivia, with all due respect, but this isn’t about you or your parenting skills. Your daughter can easily ace all her classes, but I think we just need to work together and motivate her to study and participate in classes.”

She tried to explain herself as best as she could, not that he deserved an explanation. Yennefer tried to remind herself she was doing this for Ciri. She couldn’t let Geralt’s (or her own) ego distract her from the goal.

Thankfully, her words had made Geralt take a step back and focus on the important part - Ciri. It was selfish of him to think about himself when he heard his daughter was doing badly at school. However, Geralt couldn’t help but feel so incompetent for this parenting stuff that he always strived for affirmation. And this woman was giving him the complete opposite.

“I apologize.”

Yennefer was taken aback by his sudden change of heart. Their talk had made him seem like such a stubborn man, that she just couldn’t imagine him actually apologizing to anyone. Well, she was obviously completely wrong. Her impression of Geralt was starting to change, so she didn’t say anything and let him continue.

“I…umm… I have become Ciri’s dad quite recently, to be honest. And I’m sorry if she’s not doing good at school, I just don’t know how to help her or anything… I’m kinda useless here.” He was trying to sound indifferent, robotic even, but Yennefer was good at reading people. Insecure. That’s what he was.

This man just kept surprising her. Vulnerability was a sign of a strong man, Yennefer liked that. Still, she had other things to worry about at the moment. She wasn’t familiar with all this information about him and Ciri at all, but she thought knowing their situation might be the key to understanding why the little girl was doing so badly at school.

“Mr Rivia, if it’s not a problem for you, I’d like to have a chat with you in person. I would really like to help your daughter, but I don’t think we can manage that over the phone”, she tried asking him again, hoping to get a better answer than before.

Fortunately, Yennefer was satisfied this time. Geralt had agreed to meet with her. “But on one condition”, he then said unexpectedly.

Having conditions for a parent teacher meeting was, well, unusual to say the least, but Yennefer was interested in what this man had to say. “Let’s hear it?”

“We meet somewhere else. I don’t particularly like schools.”

Geralt sounded so serious about it, but his silly condition made Yennefer chuckle. Somehow, it kinda felt true to his character, from what she could tell by now.

* * *

They were supposed to meet at the local coffee shop, just down the street from Yennefer’s apartment. Their meeting was set for five o’clock and when she arrived she was surprised to see Geralt already waiting for her inside - he must’ve come early. Yennefer respected men who respected her time.

She recognized him, of course - he had been leaving Ciri at school and picking her up ever since she started attending the school Yennefer taught at earlier this year. Geralt was one of those men you could not miss. All the single moms (and some of the married ones too) were swooning over him and all the kids thought he was pretty scary. Except for his daughter, obviously.

It was amusing to Yennefer how Ciri looked at her father - like a big teddy bear. She suspected there was more to that cold and distant frown that was always on his face. She _wanted_ there to be more.

“Hi, Mr. Rivia… I’m Yennefer, Cirilla’s teacher.”

She approached the table he was sitting at although she wanted to run away from the anxiety she was feeling. What if Geralt thought it was weird she knew what he looked like? What if-

Her train of thought was suddenly interrupted. “Ms. Vengerberg. Please have a seat.”

Geralt wasn’t a man of many words, he liked to take action instead. Getting up to shake her hand he took the chance to pull out a chair for her to sit. There was no expression on his face, not even a fake smile. His coldness mixed with forced politeness actually got on Yennefer’s nerves. He was acting like an emotionless rock, but with manners. (An extremely hot emotionless rock to be precise, but that wasn’t the point right now)

Yennefer strongly believed you shouldn’t half ass things. If you were gonna be polite then act like you enjoy it and smile. And if you’re so obviously going to show how much you hate it, then be rude and honest about it. This man was getting her all riled up and Yennefer was avoiding the real reason why.

“Thanks”, she said almost accusingly. The tone of her voice took him a little by surprise, but Geralt didn’t let it show.

He was trying his best to be polite to this woman, but it was getting harder and harder to achieve. The thing about being a new parent was that… well, you weren’t really that accustomed to _teachers_. That was a whole new group of people you got to encounter which came with a whole new set of rules for allowed interactions. For example, Geralt was pretty sure sex with his daughter’s teacher was quite frowned upon in the general public…

Which was actually the biggest problem he was facing at the moment.

When Yennefer had called him earlier that day he didn’t recognize her voice, he actually couldn’t have since he had never heard her speak. However, he did recognize _her_. He recognized those magnificent violet eyes, the beautiful dark locks that framed her perfectly structured face… and that body… damn that body.

How could he not notice her? First time he saw her, Geralt thought she was someone’s mother… or more like a hot new stepmother… She definitely didn’t struck him as a teacher. From what Geralt remembered from school, teachers were old and sad. This woman was everything but that.

She was… in one word - _enchanting_.

“Mr. Rivia, I won’t take up much of your time. I just wanted to hear your take on Ciri’s education and her school work.”

Yennefer sensed he was getting lost in his thoughts, so she thought it would be best to shoot straight and get this over with. Geralt appreciated when people were direct, maybe because he too was like that.

“Well, I think I got a pretty smart girl… but, I just didn’t have any idea she did that badly at school…” He looked so disappointed in himself that Yennefer wanted to reach out and comfort him. The strong facade he put on before fell down completely under the crushing weight of failure and she could tell he cared a lot about the little girl.

“Oh, and, you can call me Geralt.” He added then, kind of like he remembered it last second. The frown was back on his face, but Yennefer thought he was softening up little by little.

“And you can call me Yennefer.” She didn’t want to be impolite, but also she had this inexplicable urge to hear him say her name, just once.

“Thanks for calling me, I actually appreciate it”, he immediately got back to the topic of their meeting. “I don’t want Ciri to do bad at school, I’m just surprised she never came to me about it.”

Geralt looked genuinely confused and Yennefer couldn’t help but feel for him. From what she could tell about his daughter, the girl was very shy and quiet. However, Yennefer just always supposed she wasn’t like that at home, with her family.

“I’m sorry for asking this, but you’ve mentioned something about being Ciri’s father for a short time… I know that’s really personal, but I think it would be useful information.”

He looked like a man who wasn’t into sharing intimate details of his life, especially not with strangers, so Yennefer didn’t quite know what to expect. The only thing she could hope for was for him to understand her interest in that aspect of his life and not to get offended by her prying.

“If you really think it would be helpful…” He trailed off a little bit at the end of the sentence, giving her enough time to nod her head reassuringly. The conversation might be getting uncomfortable, but Yennefer honestly thought it would make a difference.

“Her parents died this summer. So she came here to live with me a month before school started. I’m not really used to being a parent…” He kept the tone in his voice steady, but on the inside Geralt wanted to curse and punch something. This story didn’t have a happy ending.

He never saw himself as a father - he didn’t want children and never thought about having them. But, sometimes life has something in store for you that you didn’t choose. Somewhere deep, deep down, Geralt believed that destiny didn’t really give you what you wanted, but it always gives you exactly what you need. He knew Ciri since she was born and he’d come to love her like she was his own flesh and blood.

And because of that, he only wanted the best for her.

“Ms Ven-…”, he stopped himself to cleared his throat awkwardly. “Yennefer, I’ll gladly do whatever it takes, you just say the words.”

The woman could see he was being serious. At first Yennefer thought she was in for a big discussion, but Geralt had surprised her with his openness to suggestions. It was clear they both had the same goal and they were ready to work together to achieve it.

“First of all, I want to thank you for sharing your story… I know it’s none of my business, but it did help me realize why Cirilla is so distant in class… I personally think it’s still too early for her to adapt to her new situation and she might be like this for some time.”

He was taking in every single word, carefully listening to everything Yennefer was saying. Geralt had trust in this woman. After all, she did reach out to him because she wanted to help - she didn’t have to do that. But, Yennefer couldn’t just let it go… Perhaps she got a little bit too invested in some of her students. Sue her.

“However, I think we can at least help with her grades. All she needs is a couple of extra tutoring classes… and someone to talk to her about it…”

Yennefer’s message was clear - Geralt had the job of taking to his daughter. It was on him to warm her up to the idea of a tutor and doing some extra work. Knowing Ciri was sometimes as stubborn as he was, he knew it wasn’t going to be a piece of cake, but he owed it to her to try. Step by step, Geralt was committed to being a good dad.

“I’m sorry, I know paying a tutor could be a bit too much… but if you can set aside some money for at least a few classes, I think it would help so much.”

Yennefer felt slightly embarrassed since she had pushed the man toward getting a tutor and paying extra money for his daughter’s education when _she_ is the one who should be teaching her. However, when you’re in the classroom with thirty other kids, there is no possible way she could take her time and individually work with all of them…

“Don’t worry, I’m willing to pay for as many classes as Ciri needs. And I want her to have the very best tutor…”, he gulped loudly before continuing. “I want _you_ to be her tutor… if you’re free, I mean?”

The question lingered in the air for a few seconds it took Yennefer to run the idea through her mind, but it actually didn’t take that long for her to know she really, really wanted to do it.

“Geralt”, she tried out his name for the first time, “I have to tell you right now, I am not a cheap woman.” It came out as kind of a joke and Geralt liked both how comfortable she was with him and also how nice his name sounded coming from her lips.

“That won’t be a problem, just say you want to do it.” Half commanding, half asking her, Geralt wished she’d say yes.

“I’d love to, honestly.” She let a small smile grace her beautiful face and Geralt knew this wouldn’t end well. At least not for him.

* * *

They agreed for Yennefer to come three times a week and have two hour tutor sessions with Ciri. Also, Geralt had offered Yennefer way more money then she usually took for her private classes… At first she didn’t want to take it, but the man was pretty damn persistent.

Working with one of her favorite students and getting payed for it _a lot_ … that actually sounded like the job of her dreams. However, as days had passed, Yennefer was getting more and more annoyed. Her classes with Ciri were going great, that obviously wasn’t the problem since the girl was so interested in taking in everything Yennefer could offer. But, every time she came to the house, Geralt would just find some dumb excuse to leave.

First, he had training. Then he had a business meeting (and Yennefer still didn’t know what his job was!). And after then he had to go grocery shopping… Each new study session came with a new excuse from Geralt.

Fourth week in, Yennefer was actually starting to think this man was avoiding her. And she was damn right.

Geralt just couldn’t contain himself when she was around. She was Ciri’s teacher though and she was helping his daughter so much - her progress was evident in her school grades. Even though he felt so drawn to Yennefer, he couldn’t act on it. So, the first logical thing that came to his mind was to avoid the beautiful woman at all cost.

However, Geralt wasn’t going to get away with it so easily. Him getting out as soon as Yennefer came in was borderline disrespectful and she was having none of it from now on.

“Geralt, could I please talk to you for a moment, before you run away again?”, she asked coyly. He knew exactly what kind of trouble he was in - she was going to call him out on his stupidness any second now. “If you don’t feel comfortable with me in the house, we can do the classes somewhere else.”

Geralt was taken aback by her comment - she so obviously misinterpreted his constant avoiding. However, once he thought about it for a moment, he came to a conclusion she probably had every right to think like that. Geralt was now regretting his actions, but he was still clinging to his cool and calm attitude, although it was getting harder by the second.

Once the words came out of Yennefer’s mouth, so did the insecurity behind them and there was nothing else in the world that Geralt wanted to do more than to hug her and tell her how amazing of a woman she was.

However, he restrained his urge. There is no point in wavering now, she was still Ciri’s teacher and that meant she was off limits.

“Not at all”, he suddenly realized he was too quiet for too long. “I just wanted to give you two some privacy, I didn’t want to distract you from the classes.” Geralt tried to pass that explanation, but Yennefer only laughed at it.

“Geralt, with all due respect, do you seriously believe you could distract me from my work?” There was fire in her eyes and when she slightly licked her lips at the end of her question Geralt thought he’d finally lose it.

“No, no, of course… I just meant…” _He actually didn’t know what he meant._

“It’s fine, Geralt, don’t need to get too worked up about it.” She stopped him before he could make any more mess and embarrass himself completely. If Geralt was being honest, it wasn’t usual that a woman was so dominant over him, leading the conversation and taking charge… but he _liked it_ though.

“So…” He was so stuck looking for the right words, but Yennefer’s inviting smile encouraged him to speak instead of overthinking.

“When Ciri finishes the semester I’d like to take you out. To thank you.” He added that in the end, but both of them knew it was bullshit. Thankfully, Yennefer wasn’t going to call him out on that… for now…

“I like Italian food. Try to remember that for next month.” She finally kissed his cheek and went back to Ciri to finish their lesson for the day.

Geralt on the other hand… he couldn’t even move, too starstruck from her innocent little peck. He was right, this definitely wasn’t going to end well for him. Being so in love with a person you barely knew never did. But damn was he willing to take a chance on her.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys liked it! xx


End file.
